The parties exchanged opinions on the current situation in the European gas market, emphasizing that in the coming decades gas would play an increasingly important role in Europe's energy mix. At the same time, Europe will see a continued growth in demand for gas imports on the back of declining production.

In that context, the meeting participants stressed the importance of creating new direct gas transmission routes from Russia to Europe. A focus was placed on the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project. It was pointed out that the gas pipeline would secure reliable supplies of Russian gas to the European market and help strengthen Baumgarten's position as a key gas distribution center in Europe.

Background

In 2015, Russian gas supplies to Austria increased by 11.5 per cent versus 2014 (from 3.9 to 4.4 billion cubic meters). From January 1 to June 15, 2016, the supplies grew by 19 per cent (from 1.6 to 1.9 billion cubic meters) compared to the same period of 2015.

In 2015, Gazprom, BASF/Wintershall, ENGIE, OMV, Shell, and Uniper inked the Shareholders Agreement to construct the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline system with the annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.